LAHORE                    -          One more COVID19 patient died at Mayo Hospital on Thursday, taking the death toll in the province to 18. Abdul Wahab, 73, member of Tableeghi Jamat hailing from Kyrgyzstan was shifted to Mayo Hospital from Raiwind Markaz on April 1. Besides getting COVID19 symptoms, he was a diabetes patient. So far 18 patients have died in the province including 10 in Lahore, four in Rawalpindi and one each in Rahim Yar Khan, Jhelum, Faisalabad and Gujrat.

As many as 58 new COVID19 patients were reported from across the province on Thursday, taking the number of confirmed cases to 2,224.

Of these 2,224 confirmed COVID19 patients, 662 are preachers of Tableeghi Jamaat, 700 pilgrims who recently returned from Iran, 68 prisoners and 794 citizens who either had travel history or fell victim to local transmission.

Of the 662 confirmed COVID19 preachers, 455 are at quarantine centre at Raiwind, 35 in Hafizabad, 33 in Bhakar, 17 in Layyah, 16 in Sargodha, 15 in Rahim Yar Khan, 14 in Vehari, 10 each in Sheikhupura and Jhelum, nine each in Gujrat and Sialkot, eight in Bahawalnagar, seven in Nankana Sahib, six in Rawalpindi, four in Khushab, three in Mandi Bahauddin and one in Rajanpur. As many as 10,263 preachers who have recently attended Tableeghi Ijtema are at quarantine centres in 33 districts for testing and isolation.

Out of 700 confirmed patients from amongst pilgrims, 457 are at quarantine centre in Multan, 220 in Dera Ghazi Khan and 23 in Faisalabad. So far 794 citizens have also been tested positive for the virus in 28 districts of the province. These people either have a travel history or they got infected through local transmission.

The highest number of cases have been reported from Lahore where 363 patients are under treatment at different centres. As many as 98 patients are under treatment in Gujrat, 64 in Rawalpindi, 42 in Gujranwala, 30 in Jhelum, 29 in Sialkot, 21 in Faisalabad, 18 in DG Khan, 15 in Mandi Bahauddin, 13 each in Nankana Sahib and Vehari, 11 in Hafizabad, 10 in Mianwali, nine each in Sargodha, Kasur and Bahawalnagar, eight each in Narowal and Chiniot, four in Multan, three each in Rahim Yar Khan, Toba Tek Singh and Lodhran and one each in Sheikhupura, Attock, Layyah, Okara and Khushab. Punjab Health Department has forwarded SOPs for handling of COVID19 patients and saving other prisoners in jails to the Home Department.

As per spokesperson of Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department, so far 30,412 suspected patients have been tested for the deadly virus. Of these, he said, 2,224 were tested positive. He said that all patients were getting treatment at quarantine centres and isolation wards at public sector hospitals. He said that serious patients were immediately shifted to High Dependency Units. He urged people to stay at home, frequently wash hands and use hand sanitizer. He advised social distancing and adopting precautionary measures while attending sick family members.